Corn and pea planter.



No. 648,967. Patented May 8, I900.

'L. M. LITTLEFIELD.

conu ANXD PEA PLANTER.

(Application filed Jul 15, 1899.) (No Model.)

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YNITED STATES PATENT FFIc.

LANDON M. LITTLEFIELD, OF ADAIRSVILLE, GEORGIA.

CORN AND PEA PLANTER.

srsorrrohrlolv forming part or Letters Patent no. 648,967, dated my 8, 1eoo. Application filed July 15, 1899. Serial No. 723,920. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LLANDON M. LITTLEFIELD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Adairsville, in the county of Bartow and State of Georgia,have invented a new anduseful Corn and Pea Planter, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Myinvention relates to the general class of corn-planters, but moreparticularly to the feed-operating mechanism for the hopper.

One object of my invention is to provide a partitionedor divided hopperwhereby the two kinds of grain or seed can be fed through a commonfeed-tube without danger of becoming mixed.

Another object is to provide means for regulating the feed, so that agreater or lesser amount of grain can be fed into the furrow.

With these objects in view my invention consists of a divided hopperhaving a rabbeted bottom, in which is pivoted a disk, and. a transversebearing-block having flexible sides and held in said hopper by the pivoton which the disk'is secured. I

My invention further consistsin the parts and combination of parts, aswill be more fully set forth in the accompanying specification,illustrated in the drawings, and'recited in the claims hereunto annexed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a walking corn-planter,showing the hopper partly in section to illustrate the interior thereof.Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the hopper. Fig. 3 is a vertical section onthe line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the line 4 4of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a top plan View of the rabbeted bottom plate of thehopper. Fig. 6 is a perspective sectional view of the hopper,illustrating the elongated groove in which the disk pivot-" pin ispositioned; and Fig. 7 is a fragmentary detail perspective of thebearing-block and securing means.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, 8 designates the planter-beam,having the usual clevis 9 and handles'lO. To the forward part of thisbeam is secured the furrow-opener 11 and rearwardly of the beam are thecoverers 12.. These coverers 12 are pivotally secured to the beam at 13and by means of the yokeshapcd adjustable brace lat and the removablepin 15 can be raised or lowered to suit the operator. On the top of thebeam, intermediate its ends and immediately behind the furrow-opener, Isecure a hopper 16, provided with a metallic bottom plate 17, secured to.adapted to be engaged by the pitman 28, connected to the pivoted lever29, bifurcated at its lower end and engaged by the crank-arm 30 of theaxle, journaled in the standards '31 and carrying the presser-wheel 32,whereby the disk is oscillated. It will be noticed that this disk 23 isprovided with seed-openings 33 and 34, the first-named openings beingsomewhat larger than the other ones, and by this construction a large orsmall amount of seed can be fed from the hopper, as'is desired.

As most clearly illustrated in Fig. 7, 35 is a bearing-blocksubstantially rectangular in shape and having flexible sides 36,composed of leather or any fibrous material. 37 is a groove in theblock, at one end, and is designed to register with the pivot-pin of thedisk 23, whereby it will be held ontop of said disk and locked againstany lateral displacement. An upward displacement of the block isprevented by means of the partition 38, which divides the hopper andbears on the top thereof.

The operation of my invention is as follows: Suppose it is desired toplant peas and corn. The peas are placed in one side of the hopper andthe corn in the other side, the planter is started, and the rotation ofthe wheel will impart a slight rocking motion to the pivoted lever,which in turn will actuate the pitma'n, and thereby oscillate the disk,feeding corn from one side and peas from the other alternately into thetube 22, from Where they will be dropped into the furrow opened by theopener 11, and the wheel 31 will press the seed into the ground and theywill be covered by the coverers 12.

Should it be found desirable to increase the feed of the seed, thepitman will be detached from the feed-disk and the same reversed, whichwill bring the larger openings 33 in register with the tube 20, whicheffect the result it is desired to attain.

By reason of the bearing block bearing upon the feed-disk the flexiblesides thereof will bear on said disks and allow the seed from eitherside of the hopper to pass thereunder to the tube; but the seed from oneside will eifectually be prevented from getting into the remaining side.

From the foregoing it will readily be seen that I have provided meanswhereby an ordinary walking-planter can be converted into a compoundplanter.

While I have described and illustrated what to me appears to be the bestmethod of securing the result it is desired to attain, I would have itunderstood that I reserve the right to make such slight changes andalterations as would properly come within the scope of my inventionwithout departing from the spirit thereof.

Having thus fully described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a planter, the combination with a hopper, having a centraldivision and a central opening communicating with adownwardlypro'jecting feed-tube, of a feed-disk pivoted in the bottom ofsaid hopper, said disk being provided with two series of openings eachseries being of different diameter, and means for throwing only oneopening of a series into operative engagement with the feed-tube at atime, substantially as described.

2. In a planter, the combination with a divided hopper, provided with acentral opening communicating with a seed-tube of a vibrating seed-diskpivoted in the bottom of said hopper, of a flexible-sided bearing-block,positioned above said disk and engaging the pivotpin th ereof, wherebysaid block is held against lateral displacement, and means for actuatingthe disks, substantially as described.

3. In a planter, the combination with a hopper having a central opening,of a reversible disk pivoted to one side of said opening, said diskhaving diametrically-opposite openings near its periphery of differentdiameter, arranged so that only one set of the openings can communicateWith the central opening at a time, substantially as described.

LANDON M. LITTLEFIELI).

\Vitnesscs:

Ronr. L. MCCALLUM, W. S. BRADLEY.

